This disclosure relates to gas turbine engines, and in particular, to a latching actuation mechanism for a latching system of a gas turbine engine nacelle.
One type of gas turbine engine includes a fan nacelle surrounding a core nacelle. The core nacelle encloses a core of the engine. The core drives a fan arranged in a bypass flowpath. The bypass flowpath is provided between core and fan nacelles.
The core nacelle encloses a core compartment that houses pressurized conduits, such as compressed air ducts for aircraft Environmental Control System (ECS). While the bypass flow pressure in the bypass flowpath aids in maintaining an inner flow structure in a closed and sealed position around the core flowpath, if a high pressure conduit bursts, the pressure within the core compartment may increase and separate a leading edge of the inner flow structure from its mating structure. In this condition, bypass flow may leak past the inner flow structure into the core compartment. This may destroy and dislodge portions of the core and fan nacelles.
To this end, latching assemblies have been proposed. These assemblies maintain the leading edge of the inner flow structure in a fully closed position. Latching assemblies can be rather complex, can on occasion become stuck, and may be susceptible to human error. If the latching assembly becomes stuck this requires the surrounding nacelle structure to be disassembled and removed to gain access to the stuck latch.